Bermuda's public schools could be brought to a standstill in September if a threatened strike by teachers goes ahead.

The Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT) has given the Ministry of Education 21 working days notice of strike action after claiming that negotiations between the two parties on pay and working conditions had failed to get off the ground.

Union general secretary Mike Charles told The Royal Gazette last night that the final straw had been the Ministry insisting that pre-school administrators be paid on a pro rata basis.

Government admitted it had been "unable to reach consensus" with the union on a number of issues but insisted it had not been told the reasons for the industrial action.

An Education Department spokesman said the union had agreed to a third party being brought in to try to resolve the "impasse".

Mr. Charles said the decision to issue the strike warning was taken by the union's executive board of 18 members last Friday.

A full meeting of the union will be held this afternoon to determine the full scale of the strike, which is likely to begin in the first week of the next school term.

"Our union has been trying for the longest time to get some issues resolved with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry is just being very obstinate and they refuse to negotiate," said Mr. Charles.

"They refuse to engage in any kind of meaningful discussions. We felt that it had gone on for too long."

He said union negotiations with the Ministry should have begun in April but had still not started because the parties were unable to agree on issues relating to the current collective agreement.

Mr. Charles said the Ministry had shown "blatant disregard" for that document, which was signed several years ago.

He added: "It got to the point where it was useless talking. The meetings were just not really making any sense. We were wasting our time."

He claimed a job description for pre-school administrators had been agreed upon, only for the Ministry to decide it did not want to pay the administrators a full-time salary but a pro rata one which would not include the two-month summer break.

"If we agree to that, it will be like they are being paid on a daily basis; they would be paid wages instead of a salary," said Mr. Charles.

"They wanted to do it to the teachers also last year. They said teachers only worked 200 days last year. The last set of negotiations, that's where we broke down.

"They haven't suggested it for this new set of talks. But the fact that they are bringing it up now suggests they might want to do that. We don't want it for anybody in our bargaining unit."

A strike would affect thousands of children in the Island's public education system, which consists of two senior schools, five middle schools, 18 primary schools, 11 pre-schools and two special schools.

A teacher, who asked not to be named, said the row could mean a "tortuous beginning to the new academic year" with teachers and civil servants "deadlocked in negotiations".

"Someone needs to highlight the inanity of the policy makers of that disrespectful Ministry," said the teacher. "Can you in your lifetime imagine teachers being called part-time teachers? Can you fathom teachers being considered part-time because of a universal entitlement to a two-month summer break?

"Can you imagine the stupidity that characterises this Ministry in its attempt to reduce teachers' salaries? This issue is very volatile right now."

An Education Department spokesman said: "The Ministry of Education and Development can confirm that it has received notice of industrial action from the Bermuda Union of Teachers, dated June 9, 2006.

"However, the notice does not specify the reasons for such action. The Ministry has subsequently requested clarification of the issues from the BUT.

"It should be noted that Government and the BUT has been unable to reach consensus on a number of important issues and a recommendation by the Ministry to resolve the impasse with the assistance of a third party was agreed to by the BUT at a meeting on June 8, 2006.

"It is clear that the BUT and the Ministry have differing views and as such the Ministry has recommended that a third party intervenes."

Mr. Charles said the union had agreed to three people who mediated in the last talks being brought back to confirm what had been agreed then.